Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

(CNSNews.com) – The acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Thomas Mesenbourg, told CNSNews.com that the bureau intends to work with community organizations to make sure every illegal alien in the United States is counted in the 2010 Census.

The Census is used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 435 House seats that are divided among the states in proportion to their population, which is determined by the decennial census. States with more people get more seats in the U.S. House.

This means that a state harboring more illegal aliens can gain more House seats as long as the Census Bureau finds the illegal aliens and counts them. This also means that the illegal alien population resident in the United States during a census year has the potential to alter the regional and philosophical balance of power in Congress.

Mesenbourg’s comments were made after a press conference on Wednesday where Commerce Secretary Gary Locke joined several interest groups, including Univision, the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) to talk about efforts to ensure a full count of Latinos in the 2010 Census.

When asked whether he intended to maximize the count of illegal aliens in next year’s census, Mesenburg said: “Our job is to count everyone that resides in the U.S.–count them once. So, certainly that’s our goal to count every individual, every resident whether they’re documented, undocumented, whether they are citizens or non-citizens.”

He said local community organizations will play a key role in making sure all illegal immigrants are counted.

“The local communities are going to have a strong partnership program in each of the local communities, and we’re going to focus on the hard to count geographic areas. That typically has been areas with high numbers of undocumented workers but it’s much more diverse than that,” he said.

“So, what we’ll do is we’ll have Census Bureau folks out in those neighborhoods recruiting community organizations, faith-based organizations, and local media to get that message out that it’s safe, it’s easy, and it’s important to file your 2010 Census form,” said Mesenbourg.

Mesenbourg also said the Census Bureau intended to reach out to illegal aliens through local organizations that the aliens see as “trusted” voices to let them know it is safe to cooperate with the Census Bureau in being counted.

“It’s more than just the Census Bureau telling them that it’s safe,” said Mesenbourg. “We need somebody that they view as a trusted voice–somebody from that community, whether perhaps the local pastor or somebody in a community organization that can assure them that it’s safe.”

“One way to improve the safety is you get a census form, fill it out, return it by mail and no one will come knocking on your door after that,” he said.

The forms Mesenbourg referenced are available on the Census Bureau’s Web site. They do not require a Social Security number to be completed and counted.

Both English and bilingual versions of the census form are available for downloading in PDF form from the Census Bureau’s website.

Mesenbourg explained why he and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke attended the event with several Latino special interest groups.

“Well, getting a full and accurate count is job number one for us,” said Mesenbourg. “The secretary recognizes that and we recognize that the Census Bureau and the Department Commerce alone can’t carry out a successful census.”

“We need to partner with organizations that are viewed as trusted voices in their local community, and certainly this coalition’s going to go a far way in terms of accomplishing that goal,” he said.

The executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund, Arturo Vargas, said they want to make sure every single person who resides in the county is counted.

“You know the census is something that’s required by the United States Constitution, and the Constitution says that it should be an enumeration all persons. So, we want to make sure that every single person who resides in this country gets enumerated,” Vargas told CNSNews.com during the press conference.

Ruben Keoseyan, publisher of the newspaper La Raza, said the organizations at the press conference have partnered with the Census Bureau to help undocumented immigrants “come out and register” for the census.

“This is not just a partnership among the people that you see here,” said Keoseyan. “This is also a partnership with the Census Bureau because we believe that we can aid in helping those people come out and register and participate in the census. It’s a much easier form. It’s going to be in Spanish.”

“It will be a bilingual form which we will replicate in our publications, but most importantly it’ll be a pencil and paper type of thing and we will be there to support this,” he said. “But if the Census Bureau and the federal government doesn’t support the efforts and the trust that we’re going to have put out there to have people believe in what we’re trying to get there.”

Below is the full transcript of the interview with the acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau Thomas L. Mesenbourg:

CNSNews.com: “Do you want to maximize the counting of illegal immigrants in the 2010 Census?”

Mesenbourg: “Our job is to count everyone that resides in the U.S. Count them once. So, certainly that’s our goal to count every individual, every resident whether they’re documented, undocumented, whether they are citizens or non-citizens.”

CNSNews.com: “Why do you think the commerce secretary and you as well came to this event?”

Mesenbourg: “Well, getting a full and accurate count is job number one for us. The secretary recognizes that and we recognize that the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce alone can’t carry out a successful census. We need to partner with organizations that are viewed as trusted voices in their local community and certainly this coalition’s going to go a far way in terms of accomplishing that goal.”

CNSNews.com: “They had mentioned during the actual event, local communities and their role in counting. How does that relate to the illegal immigrant counting in the census?”

Mesenbourg: “Well, the local communities are going to have a strong partnership program in each of the local communities and we’re going to focus on the hard to count geographic areas. That typically has been areas with high numbers of undocumented workers, but it’s much more diverse than that. So, what we’ll do is we’ll have Census Bureau folks out in those neighborhoods recruiting community organizations, faith-based organizations, and local media to get that message out that it’s safe, it’s easy and it’s important to file your 2010 census form.”

CNSNews.com: “I imagine it must be difficult counting them if they think it’s not safe.”

Mesenbourg: “Yeah, and it’s more than just the Census Bureau telling them that it’s safe. We need somebody that they view as a trusted voice–somebody from that community, whether perhaps the local pastor or somebody in a community organization that can assure them that it’s safe. One way to improve the safety is you get a census form, fill it out, return it by mail, and no one will come knocking on your door after that.”

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said it was “outrageous” that government attorneys would ignore his deadline for turning over documents to former Sen. Ted Stevens’ legal team.

A federal judge held Justice Department attorneys in contempt Friday for failing to deliver documents to former Sen. Ted Stevens’ legal team.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said it was “outrageous” that government attorneys would ignore his deadline for turning over documents.

Last month, Sullivan ordered the Justice Department to turn over all the agency’s internal communications regarding a whistleblower complaint against the FBI agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator.

The agent, Chad Joy, bitterly complained about some Justice Department tactics during the trial, including not turning over evidence and an “inappropriate relationship” between another agent working the case and the prosecutor’s star witness.

Stevens was convicted in October of lying on Senate disclosure documents about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from an Alaska businessman. In November, Stevens lost his bid for re-election to the Senate seat he had held since 1968.

Stevens and his lawyers complained during the trial about prosecutors withholding information. In December, they asked for his conviction to be tossed out. As part of their request, they asked for the documents related to Joy.

During Friday’s hearing, Sullivan repeatedly asked three Justice Department attorneys sitting at the prosecution’s table whether they had some reason not to turn over the documents. They finally acknowledged they did not, and Sullivan exploded into anger.

“That was a court order,” he bellowed. “That wasn’t a request. I didn’t ask for them out of the kindness of your hearts. … Isn’t the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?”

He said he didn’t want to get “sidetracked” by deciding a sanction immediately and would deal with their punishment later. But he ordered them to produce the material by the end of the day.

“That’s outrageous for the Department of Justice — the largest law firm on the planet,” he said. “That is not acceptable in this court.”

Sullivan held all three attorneys sitting at the table in contempt and demanded repeatedly to know who else was involved in withholding the information. Another government attorney sitting in the back of the courtroom stood up and gave her name.

The Republican National Committee has picked Michael Steele, a black man from a traditionally Democratic state, to be the new face of the party as the GOP forges a revival following a second straight electoral drubbing.

Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, won the chairmanship Friday after six rounds of voting in which five candidates were competing. He becomes the first black chairman of the Republican Party just days after President Obama became the nation’s first black president.

Steele delivered a rousing speech after winning the race, pledging to re-establish the Republican presence in the northeast and win elections in regions across the country.

“It’s time for something completely different, and we’re gonna bring it to them,” he said. “Get ready, baby. It’s time to turn it on.”

Steele said he would work to build the party to an unprecedented level and warned: “For those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked down.”

Outgoing Chairman Mike Duncan dropped his bid for a second term after the third round of voting. South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson had emerged as Steele’s top challenger, but Steele won with 91 votes to Dawson’s 77.

Voting lasted for hours because no candidate was able to rack up the majority of votes necessary. A candidate needs 85 of 168 votes to win, which Steele eventually attained.

Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s former secretary of state, and Saul Anuzis, Michigan GOP chairman, dropped their bids before the final round of voting.

Steele ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Maryland in 2006, and later headed up GOPAC, the Republican recruiting arm. He is a frequent media commentator, on FOX News and other outlets, and has touted that experience as one of his credentials. In a recent interview with FOXNews.com, he also said his political upbringing in a liberal stronghold of Maryland had toughened him.

The results in the early rounds Friday signaled that many Republicans were eager for new leadership, after suffering double-digit losses in congressional elections for the second time in a row in November and losing the White House. Steele lagged Duncan by just six votes in the first round Friday, but the second round had them tied and Steele led Duncan 51-to-44 votes in the third round, after which Duncan dropped out.

“Obviously the winds of change are blowing,” Duncan said as he withdrew from the race and got a standing ovation. The Kentucky Republican thanked former President George W. Bush and said of his two-year tenure: “It truly has been the highlight of my life.”

Another candidate, former Tennessee GOP Chairman Chip Saltsman, dropped out of the race on Thursday with little explanation, saying only in a letter to RNC members: “I have decided to withdraw my candidacy.”

Saltsman, who ran former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s failed presidential campaign last year, was considered a long-shot candidate who several Republican officials said likely wouldn’t have had enough support even to be formally nominated had he continued his bid.

It faltered in December after he drew controversy for mailing a 41-track CD to committee members that included a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” by conservative comedian Paul Shanklin and sung to the music of “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economic stimulus package neared $900 billion in the Senate, as President Barack Obama wooed Republicans ahead of an expected House vote Wednesday.

The rare trip by a president to Capitol Hill revealed the urgency in Congress and the White House over a cure for the souring economy. More than 70,000 layoffs were announced this week and fresh data showed unemployment last month rose in all states.

The day was marked by Democratic deal-making. The Obama administration indicated it would agree to a $69 billion Senate proposal to shield tens of millions of middle-income Americans from the so-called alternative minimum tax, a priority of Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. The panel later folded the change into the Senate bill.

White House officials also spread the word that Mr. Obama was willing to drop a proposed expansion of contraceptive coverage under Medicaid that has become a symbol for Republican critics. Late Tuesday, Democratic leaders agreed to drop that provision, as well as another measure providing support for refurbishing the capital’s National Mall, ahead of the final vote on the House floor Wednesday. Both measures had been lampooned by Republicans.

The magnitude of the spending bill, and its urgency, drew a swarm of lobbyists seeking money and tax breaks. The concrete and asphalt industries battled over how the government should spend billions proposed for road and bridge repairs, while dairy and beef cattle producers butted heads over talk that the government might buy up dairy cattle for slaughter to drive up depressed milk prices. Unions backed infrastructure spending. States sought budget bailouts.

“When you’ve got 800-plus billion dollars to spend, you’ll have an equal number of opinions on how it should be spent,” said Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, the dairy industry’s main lobbying group.

The economic stimulus package proposed by Democratic House leaders totals $825 billion and includes three broad pieces: a $365.6 billion spending measure for such brick-and-mortar projects as highways and bridges; a $180 billion measure to boost jobless benefits and Medicaid, among other things; and a $275 billion tax-relief package, which includes a plan to give a $500 payroll tax holiday to all workers, a proposal from Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign.

Well I guess helping to end the homeless problems in American is not as important as so many folks say it is. Rather than start with “Change” which could be a smaller event of Inaugural festivals, 8 figures will be spend on an event that lasts maybe 30mins. Well I can’t wait to see the rest of his change. (And I’m sure folks will say oh but why make the black president change and tone the excessive celebrations. To them I say, why not have “The Messiah”, LEAD by example? If anything is change, that would be.)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Before sunrise on Thursday, Frank Mearns will leave the place he calls home, a stone’s throw from the White House, and join thousands of others in Washington who are upping sticks and moving out for the presidential inauguration.

But Mearns isn’t about to make a quick buck by renting out his pied-a-terre. Nor is he heading out of town on an inauguration escape holiday.

He’s one of Washington’s army of homeless who are being cleared from the center of the US capital ahead of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama.

“There’s a sweep on Thursday at 5:00 am,” Mearns said.

“Everyone’s got to be out of here and stay out until next Thursday,” the 37-year-old said.

“Here” is a space on 14th Street and New York Avenue, in the heart of a zone in the center of Washington that will be closed to traffic and heavily policed during the inauguration.

“Here” is also home to Mearns and a dozen other homeless people each night.

Five of his fellow street dwellers work full-time but can’t afford to pay the high rents in the Washington area. Another is a man who was displaced from his home in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. And there are a handful of women in the group.

“There’s a lady who’s been on the streets for 10 years and been raped seven times. She sleeps next to the guy from Katrina and if he’s not here, she sleeps somewhere else. She sleeps here for safety. She doesn’t know where she’ll go next week,” Mearns told AFP.

According to Michael O’Neill of the National Coalition for the Homeless, up to 1,200 people live rough in the security zone, including on Pennsylvania Avenue, the grand boulevard which the inaugural parade will march down.

The effort to clear the streets of Washington of its homeless population was unlike anything that former homeless man David Pirtle has witnessed.

“I was on the streets when George W. Bush had his second inauguration in 2005 and it was nothing like this. There were no large-scale sweeps. I slept on Pennsylvania Avenue the night before and the night after the inauguration,” said the 34-year-old who now works for the National Coalition for the Homeless.

“But as hard as the administration is going to try to make this look sanitary, the homeless are not going to be invisible. You can’t make 6,000-12,000 people disappear,” he said, citing official figures for homelessness in Washington-proper and the greater metropolitan area, including suburbs in Virginia and Maryland.

A dozen shelters will be open round-the-clock in Washington from Sunday until Wednesday, the day after Obama takes office, to provide temporary housing for the homeless.

The shelters will be equipped with televisions, showing live coverage of Obama’s swearing-in.

But they have only around 2,800 beds. And “things happen” in shelters, according to Mearns, who will be staying with an activist friend for the week.

Between one and two million people are expected to pour into Washington, a city of 400,000, for the inauguration, some paying tens of thousands of dollars a night for a hotel room and to attend lavish inaugural balls.

Given the huge numbers expected, unprecedented security measures are being put in place to try to ensure that the January 20 inauguration runs smoothly and safely.

“I don’t fault the people who are putting this together for trying to make it a safe event because if there are a couple of million people crammed into the middle of Washington, it could be a target for something,” Pirtle said.

“But you can do it and work with the community,” he added.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty has estimated that the inauguration will cost the city some 47 million dollars (35 million euros), while Maryland and Virginia have estimated their outlay at 12 million and 16 million dollars respectively.

“We are showing our priorities as a nation: throwing a multi-million dollar party while trying to shovel our poor and our homeless under the carpet,” Pirtle said.

“It’s an inauspicious start to our new administration of hope that Obama wants to work for,” he added, blaming city and security officials rather than the president-elect, who he said was “stuck in the middle.

Presidential Inauguration Committee spokesman Kevin Griffiths said he would “check what our interaction has been with the local authorities about the homeless,” and stressed that the organizers have been at pains to make the historic investiture as inclusive as possible.

One network insider claims it was the book’s theme — a brutal examination of liberal bias in the new era — that got executives to dis-invite the controversialist.

“We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now,” a TODAY insider reveals. “It’s such a downer. It’s just not the time, and it’s not what our audience wants, either.”

Others inside the peacock network strongly deny the book’s theme is at issue.

For the book, Coulter reportedly received the most-lucrative advance ever paid to a conservative author.

The TODAY show eagerly invited the author months ago, for her first network interview on GUILTY.

The exclusive was to air during the show’s 7 AM hour. The cut came Monday afternoon.

Folks this is how we get rid of all the greedy corrupt elected officials. WE THE PEOPLE, vote them out. WE have the power and can show it during EVERY election. Between Sen. Stevens and now Congressman Jefferson, all elected officials should be paying close attention to what has been happening to their corrupt coleages.

We need to continue this clean up process folks. It is OUR GOVERNMENT and they are all ELECTED to SERVE, “WE THE PEOPLE.”

NEW ORLEANS – Voters in Louisiana sent two Republicans to Congress on Saturday, ousting indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in one race and narrowly keeping a seat vacated by a retiring incumbent in the other.

In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh “Joseph” Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature.

In the 4th Congressional District in western Louisiana, Republican John Fleming squeaked past Democrat Paul Carmouche in the race to replace retiring 10-term Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La. Only a few hundred votes separated the two.

Republicans made an aggressive push to take the 2nd District seat from the 61-year-old Jefferson, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.